Clinical and laboratory evaluation of acute, presumed-viral keratoconjunctivitis

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted on 87 persons of differing nationalities, suffering from an acute follicular conjunctivitis with punctate keratitis, attending the out-patient eye clinic of the Royal Commission Hospital in Yanbu, El-Sinayeia, Saudi Arabia. The study was carried out over slightly more than one year, from January 1990 to March 1989. All patients were subjected to both ocular and general medical examinations, including viral antibody screening tests. Just over half of all patients included in the study showed significant antibody titres against members of the adenovirus group, either alone, or in combination with herpes simplex virus antibodies. Herpes simplex were serologically found to be involved in a total of 14 patients, either alone or in combination with other viruses, without there being any clinical evidence of herpetic disease, stressing the possible hazards of corticosteroid therapy in cases of presumed viral keratoconjunctivitis